Middan
Middan is a planet in the Wotan system made up of a single continent known as Mittmark and various large islands. Middan is the only known planet with the capacity to maintain life, attributed to the vast oceanic cover of the planet which is made up of liquid . The planet has an approximate area of 74.8 million square kilometres, with 28,549,000 of that area being made up of solid land. The atmosphere is made up of about 78% , 21% , and 1% , with traces of other gasses as well. The planet is considered to rest in a , in which the distance from the sun, known as Wotan, is just the right distance to allow for liquid water oceans and to facilitate the development of life. The core of the planet is also responsible for the formation of life, as its high density allows for stable gravity levels and its composition of mostly iron creates a that shields the atmosphere from volatile s. Middan is the only planet known to be a host of , with this unique feature being attributed to a wide range of factors. The planet is ecologically diverse, but the relatively small size of the planet in comparison to most other celestial bodies leads to a generally and a common variety of plant and animal life across the planet's many regions. The rise of is attributed to the arduous conditions of some of the more extreme parts of the globe, specifically the Parvopolian plain, which resulted in the development of and founded the basis of contemporary . The 520.343 million humans of Middan are divided amongst eight sovereign states, loosely united under the Organisation of States. Middan has two moons, Saga and Frigg, and is the second planet from the star Wotan, following Thor and preceding Tyr. The moons of Middan create s through their gravitational interaction with Middan, and also stabilise the axial tilt. During one orbit around Wotan, Middan orbits 365.26 times on its axis, with the axis of rotation being tilted 23.4° away from the perpendicular of its orbital plane, producing s. Each rotation on the axis creates a constant 24 hour cycle of day and night. Etymology The name Middan derives from the beliefs of the ancient Ryteans that the ground they walked upon and all the ground that humanity inhabited was apart of a plane of existence known as Middangard, or, middle-enclosure. Historically, the name was applied as a lowercase improper noun referring to all lands inhabited by humanity in the manner of the middan, much in the same way that the plane above it could be referred to as the heavens. However, with the rise of the evolutionary theory and, even more recently, the fact that the celestial bodies in the neighbourhood of Middan are not actual celestial beings or their realms, the belief that the middan itself was a separate realm from the rest of the cosmos faded, and the planet which humans inhabited simply became known as the proper noun Middan. The University of Flaxa uses the uppercase Middan as the primary entry for the word, while the lowercase is seen as a variant and is typically used with the inclusion of the article the. Geography Most of Middan is made up of a vast saltwater body called the Interminatic Ocean. Other major bodies of water on the planet include the Icarian Sea and the Ursic Sea. In the polar regions of the planet, on both the north and south poles, much of the ocean is covered by thick ice caps which exist perpetually, floating on top of the water in the north, and supported by a large landmass in the south. The single continent, Mittmark, sits mostly in the northern hemisphere and makes up nearly the entirety of the planet's land area. Four islands are located around the continent, with the Baerish Isles in the northeast and Hatt Isle in the southwest. Mittmark itself is typically divided into two separate regions, Westmark and Ostmark, generally done in accordance with the varying cultures of humans living in specific areas of the continent rather than by any distinct geographical differences. Ostmark is centralised around the Daggerfell mountains in the centre of the region, high peaks which contain the highest mountain in the world, known as Mount Tranquil. Much of the land south of the Daggerfells is made up of grasslands, woodlands, and, surrounding a portion of highlands known as the Southern Daggerfells, dense forests. To the east of the Daggerfells is an extensive mix of grassland and woodland that becomes the Lalnaen plain just before it meets the Ursic Sea. To the north of the Daggerfells is a similar mixture of grassland and woodland with gentle rolling hills that eventually becomes tundra where the land meets the sea on the northern edge of the continent. A small section of the Parvopolian plain makes it way into Ostmark northwest of the Daggerfells. Westmark also has a mountainous region at its core, although the peaks are scattered into generally three areas of mountains, and all of it is considered to be the Phyrgian mountains. The Icarian Sea is what separates Westmark from Ostmark, and to the north and northeast of the sea is the Parvopolian plain. The plain is apart of the larger grasslands which make up the central part of the region, although the plains themselves have much different weather patterns, flora, and fauna than the more interior central grasslands. Bounding the western and southern coasts of the region is a mixture of grassland and woodland, in the north giving way to the tundra and in the south giving way to Hatt Isle. The northern tundra is more vast in Westmark than in Ostmark, covering a much larger area and with a shorter boundary between the areas adjacent to it. Hatt Isle is heavily forested, and is also centred around a highland known as the Bastion mountains. See also *Wotan system *Mitmark **Ostmark **Westmark *Baerish Isles Category:Planets Category:Middan